Sedgwick Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that John Tapley, 58, of Sedgwick, Maine, pleaded guilty today in U.S District Court in Bangor to possession of child pornography.

Court records and proceedings reveal that in January of 2013, Tapley brought his laptop computer to a computer repair shop for service. A service technician found sexually suggestive images of prepubescent girls on the computer and reported it to the police. Law enforcement agents obtained a search warrant for the computer and found images and videos of child pornography.

Tapley faces a minimum of 10 years and up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He faces an enhanced sentence because of two prior Maine Superior Court convictions for unlawful sexual contact. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

The investigation was conducted by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit, and the Ellsworth Police Department.